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Archive for July, 2009

Getting a Brazilian

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

bikiniwax

In case the picture didn’t make it clear, I am indeed talking about the brazilian wax. I have been getting brazilian’s done for a few years now and I find people still have this weird idea of what a brazilian wax is all about. Yes, all the hair goes. No, you don’t leave a “landing” strip of hair (I don’t know anyone who ever has and I wonder why you’d bother). Yes it does hurt, but it’s bearable. I got one done today which was one of the best ones I have ever had. My last experience was horrendous because the girl who did it was rough, did it far too quickly and only use wax strips. Plus she left lots of stray hairs which was highly unprofessional of her. I left the salon with a burning box and a little extra money in my purse because it was very cheap. Which is probably why it was so bad, come to think of it. So for anyone who’s unfamiliar with brazilian waxes, here are my tips for getting the most out of the experience:

  • Don’t kid yourself, it does hurt. But if done properly it’s not a terrible pain and apart from the middle strip (which hurts like a mofo) it’s not all that bad. Wax strips hurt the most but they’re quicker and grab more hairs. Hot wax hardly hurts at all but they have to go over the same spot a couple of times to get all the hairs. Wax strips are typically used on the less sensitive areas while hot wax is used where it’s very tender (eg. closer to your lady bits). Be wary of places that only use strips because it hurts and is bad for the ultra-sensitive areas.
  • Don’t got for cheap. I’ve made that mistake a few times and always regret it. It’s like most things, cheaper alternatives are usually the shittier alternatives. The wax I got last was $35 and was painful and not done properly. The one I got today was $65 (though the prices goes down if you go back there every 6-8 weeks) and was barely painful, beautifully done and had impeccable service. Making sure you get waxed every 6-8 weeks is what keeps the cost down too – I always leave mine much longer so it’s like starting all over again every time I go. I really must stop that…
  • Find a good beauty therapist and stick with them! I had the best girl do mine for years, until one day she was gone and I couldn’t track her down. She used nothing but hot wax and spent the whole time having great conversations with me. She wasn’t cheap or fast but she did an amazing job and I loved visiting her. When she disappeared  was lost! I went to Brazilian Beauty today which a friend recommended to me and I will keep going there. The girl I had today was lovely and did an awesome job, as I have said many times now. If you find someone who does a good job, stick with them. That was you have less to dread before each visit because they’re a familiar face who knows what you get done and won’t disappoint you.
  • Be aware that any waxing down there is a fairly embarrassing experience. You’re lying on a table with your legs spread and nothing to hide your shame from a total stranger. If ever I’m feeling especially embarrassed, I remind myself that they do this for a living and have seen it all and would have seen a LOT worse than me. Can you imagine the horror stories those beauty therapists have to tell? You can be damn sure you wouldn’t even register on their list of terrible clients.
  • STOP SHAVING! I fall into the “oh I’ll just shave this time” trap all the time even though I know how BAD it is. Despite popular belief your hairs don’t grow back thicker (on any part of your body), but shaving makes the end of the hairs bunt and therefore seem coarser. Shaving also causes lots of ingrown hairs and can also wreck the way the hairs grow which means it’s going to hurt more next time you do get a wax (I know this from lots of experience). But most importantly, shaving only gets rid of the hair for a day or two before you get nasty, itchy stubble that is almost unbearable for those initial days of growing out. Then you have to wait another 6 weeks before you can go get it waxed. It’s never worth it.
  • I don’t do after-care because I am really slack. here are a lot of good products out there, but I don’t know anything about them. There are moisturisers that help minimise ingrowns and slow down regrowth but I’m a scrooge and am never willing to fork out the money for it. If anyone has opinions or recommendations on after-care, please let me know!

So what are the benefits of waxing it all off down there? Personally I think it looks better, but that is my personal taste. I don’t think it makes me look like a prepubescent girl because I’m clearly NOT a ten year old and do not think that having hair down there makes me look more “grown up”, so you have my permission to punch anyone who suggests that to you. Pubic hair apparently has a purpose, or so some doctors say. But this is an era where we all clean down there frequently and wear clothing that protects our genitals from the outside elements, and I do not see why we need pubes this day and age. I feel a lot cleaner without the short-and-curlies and it’s generally just a nicer feeling to be bare down there. Everyone’s different though, so get whatever makes you feel good. I started off with just regular g-string waxes which leaves a decent amount of hair before I moved on to the brazilian, so I suggest doing that for your first couple of times if you’re not sure what you want. But I’m telling you now, one you go brazilian you never go…back… Or something like that.

ruby_sig

Posted in Body and Soul, My Advice | No Comments »

Ignore the hype!

Sunday, July 19th, 2009

empireofthesunsuck

I hate hype, particularly when it comes to music. You see it all the time, a band or singer released a song that is really, really good and you wonder how their new album will sound. Well, so does everyone else but most people take it to the extreme and create a whole bunch of hype, based on that one song. Every piece of street press you read, all the music sites and music channels you frequent are all over that shit like it’s the next big thing, for real this time. Well guess what? It’s not. The hype is rarely ever justified. In most cases, the next song is either the same as the first one, not as good as the first one or just plain awful. Some people can look past that and will wait for the album, buy it as soon as it hits the shelves and listen to it eagerly. Most of these people say they liked the album, but I never hear rave reviews about these over-hyped musicians and their less-than-ordinary music. It’s always “Yeah it’s a good album, but not as good as I was expecting”. DUH! No one can live up to excessive hype, so you ruined it for yourself! How about next time you wait til the album is out before you wig out about how great that band is, instead of setting yourself up for bitter disappointment.

One of my favourite examples in MGMT. Man Electric Feel was a great song, so the hype started and these boys could do no wrong. Their other singles (ie. Kids) were enjoyable but not really quite as good. Then their album came out and surprise surprise, it wasn’t very good. At all. In fact I listened to it once and haven’t touched it again. Electric Feel was so good, and the rest was this psychadelic electro rubbish that eventually sounded like a lot of LSD-induced noise by the end of it. And yet their gig in Brisbane sold out in minutes last year. It seems to me that all these people who get caught up in the hype are too proud to admit they got carried away and keep up the pretense of thinking this is the best band/album ever until the next big thing comes out to distract everyone, so they can save face when they finally admit they were over-rated.

Right now I am sick to death of the hype surrounding Empire of the Sun (pictured). Seeing pictures like this is already enough reason for me to hate them on principle, but the hype surrounding them only makes them even more annoying. I really liked their first song Walking on a Dream and though I thought the film clip was a bit odd but it caught my attention none the less. I happen to really like Pnau so I was intrigued by Nick Littlemore’s side project, though somewhat repulesed that it had to include Luke Steele from The Sleepy Jackson (he is a douchebag). So their next single came out and wow, it sounds exactly the same and features them being wearing the same silly outfits, doing the same silly actions but in the jungle instead of the city this time. Well isn’t that just wonderful. A band with some potential turns out to be another crock of over-hyped bullshit. Now everyone’s flipping out about their “epic” stage show when they play at Parklife this year. I wonder how many people actually care about them or their excessive, arty and self-indulgent stage show that is designed to go along with their excessive, arty and self-indulgent music.

I am all about supporting musicians who are very good at what they do, who break boundries and make excellent music. If a band or a musician starts off good and gets better and better as they make more music, release more albums and put on excellent shows as they go on tour then fine. They deserve some hype and relentless adoration because they are consistently excellent beyond their first single with it’s arty-farty music video.

I almost wish I was able to go to Parklife this year (I will be in Japan at the time) so I can go and see if ANY of the hype surrounding Empire of the Sun is actually justified. And if I was not blown away from the get-go then they would have been taunted and booed until my throat was sore!

ruby_sig

will be taunted and booed
           until my throat is sore

Posted in Music Love, Rants | 2 Comments »

Accept this!

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

bethrainbow

Tonight I read a few blogs by people I admire, dealing with the idea of not being accepted by friends, family, the general public etc. The letters on Doe Deere Blogazine really affected me because of how these poor girls feel inferior because they choose to dress differently to most other people. Their experiences, where they’re publicly humiliated in front of their school, or have random strangers shout things and even have their own mum’s not “getting it” devastates me. I’ve been quite different all of my life. In high school when all the girl were showing off their newly developed boobs (which I had since grade 5, so like, whatever) in tight tops, I favoured baggy band t-shirts and shorts with skate shoes. In Uni I liked to wear fitted t-shirts and baggy shorts, all of which matched in colour. More recently I am completely obsessed with pink and black and wear only the most over-the-top outfits I have, usually involving tutu’s and other unusual accessories.

The thing is though, I’ve never experienced any sort of negative feedback for how I dress. Luckily for me, my mum encouraged dressing differently and now delights in the fact I wear eccentric outfits that almost always turns heads wherever I go. I’ve also grown up with friends who enjoyed different fashion styles to the norm, so I always had backup in one way or another. So to hear about people who probably don’t dress anything near as over-the-top as I do who go through hell about what they choose to wear…well, it breaks my heart! I can’t even imagine worrying about whether or not people will say nasty stuff to/about me by wearing one of my regular outfits out in public. I mean sure, some people might make nasty comments behind my back but I don’t hear them and therefore they don’t technically exist to me. I just don’t know how I would react if ever someone made a nasty comment about my choice of clothing to my face or loud enough for me to hear them. Probably very badly, so I just hope I never have to go through something like that.

I’ve always been an advocate of being who you want to be, screw the consequences or the people who don’t like it. But I guess when it comes to being harassed about it, particularly to the point where you worry about your own safety, then something’s got to give. Depending on your situation you may need to make some compromises, particularly if you’re young and live with your parents, which isn’t ideal but for your own well-being you have to do whatever helps you get by. It may mean toning things down day-to-day and finding other outlets for your self-expression. If/when you’re able to, move somewhere more open-minded! Being stuck somewhere that’s filled with narrow-minded jerks will never work out for anyone a little bit different, so get the hell out! If it’s someone like a family member or even your own friends who are giving you a hard time though, you have to be strong. Tell them that they can either suck it up and accept you for who you are or get lost. I am certain very few people are going to be shallow enough to disown a relative or a friend simple because of how they dress. Take a stand, be brave and be proud of who you are! This is your life and damn all who don’t agree with your choices!

Now I think about it, this goes for anything really, not just irregular fashion choices. Be you gay, extremely tattooed, have an unusual haircut or a love of anything not-normal. Never take someone’s lack of respect, intelligence or acceptance to heart. Be whoever the hell you want to be and be proud that you’re a much better person because you don’t give a fuck about what anyone thinks about you! Life is too short and being “normal” much too boring!

ruby_sig

Posted in Body and Soul, Fashion and makeup, My Advice | 2 Comments »

Family ties

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

Families are funny things. They range from wonderful to totally shit and cover everything in between. I guess I’m one of the lucky ones who has a pretty good family. Not the best, by any means, but I still love them dearly. Unfortunately for a lot of people, their families are less than ideal. I have a few friends who have parents or siblings they can’t stand, or families who can’t stand the individual. It always worries and confuses the hell out of me when I hear about someone who has been disowned by their family, or have disowned a family member themselves. Up until very recently I thought it was the worst thing in the world. How could anyone want nothing to do with a member of their own family??? Sure, nobody’s perfect, but they’re your own flesh and blood! Surely differences can be resolved when it comes to family? Forgiveness is easy when you’re talking about someone form your bloodline! Whenever I heard a tale of someone deciding not to talk to a family member (or even their whole family) ever again I think they’re being silly and will surely get over it soon because no one can stay mad at family forever, right?!

Like I said, I’m lucky and have a really good family. I once thought my mum would disown me if I got tattoo. When I said this to her, she laughed and said that she could never disown me, especially not for something as trivial as a tattoo. My little sister used to be a pain in the arse growing up, a real little terror. Tantrums to get her way (which usually worked), bad behaviour to get attention, lies to get herself out of trouble and so on. Yet despite all the hell she put us through, we don’t resent her or wish she’d been any different. Sure, life would have been a lot quieter, but nowhere near as interesting. My family isn’t perfect but they are who they are and I’m glad I have them.

So it came as a real shock when I realised recently that it was time for me to cease contact with a family member myself. It was a long time coming I guess, but still a shock when I came to the realisation. My parents split up a few years back, after my dad had a total mid-life-crisis. It was all right at first, we had a family business which my parents still ran together. He moved out and they just worked together from the family home. It wasn’t great but it wasn’t that bad either. Then my dad started turning really nasty against my mum and it all went rapidly downhill from there. The last year or so was the worst, my ever-quiet father was suddenly becoming an ogre who cared for no one but himself. So when they finally parted ways it suddenly dawned on me that this wasn’t the man I knew, he was my father still of course, but I really didn’t know him any more. So after his final bout of nastiness I decided I didn’t need to keep him in my life, and was only doing so because he was family, my dad. I wanted to put up with him, I really did, but neither of us were going to benefit from continued contact, so I finally told him that was it, I didn’t want any more to do with him.

I now realise that sometimes it is necessary to rid yourself of the people who do nothing for you, even it means you have to do this to a family member. It hurt like hell but it had to be done, and I guess it’s just a necessary part of growing up. It’s also not something to take lightly, you can’t go disowning your family because they gave you the shits one day and you’re in a temper about it. It’s about making a decision that you know is right, no matter how painful it might end up being (for your or the person you’ve decided you want to let go) and going through with it. It doesn’t have to be forever either. Time does heal most wounds, so maybe in a few years time you can forgive them and make amends with them. I remain positive that down the track my dad will understand why I made my decision and try to make amends with me. Only time will tell.

ruby_sig

Posted in Body and Soul, My Life | No Comments »